Thanks to absolutist firebrands such as Rand and Ron Paul, laissez-faire economic sentiment has been gaining momentum in the GOP for some time. But with the nomination of deficit hawk wunderkind — and notable Ayn Rand devotee — Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney's running mate, movement libertarianism has officially been added to the Republican presidential platform.

Regardless of whether Romney is elected and Ryan’s controversial budget proposals are made law, the rebranding has already created two decisive effects: first, it has excited the fiscal-conservative base enough to warrant representation at the penultimate level; and second, it has convinced swaths of more marginal voters, who vaguely recall skimming through Atlas Shrugged as undergrads, that they were ardent “objectivists” all along.

In honor of the libertarian strain of Republicanism getting its RNC coronation this week, here are the top nine films that evoke a reverie for free markets and, in some cases, the dystopian nightmare that's sure to follow if we ignore Rand's literary prophecy. more »

And now the latest sequel call from Movieline Central Casting: "So, what do you need to do to get on set? You need to get busy... 1. Follow us on Twitter and retweet any of our tweets. 2. Like us on Facebook and share any of our posts. The more you tweet and share, the more chance you have to be cast so, tweet and share early and often. We’ll be selecting an extra this Friday afternoon and flying the selectee and a guest to LA this coming Monday, May 14th - all expenses paid. Or, most expenses anyway - flight and hotel for two nights. By the way, while you’ll definitely be an 'extra' on set, we can’t really guarantee you screen time. But... we can certainly guarantee you a good time. We’ll make sure you get some cool swag too." Whatever, just give me one of those smoldering hats. [Atlas Shrugged]

Fun fact: Legendary philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand shared a birthday with Groundhog Day -- a curious coincidence hinting that Punxatawney Phil guaranteed more than just six added weeks of winter when he saw his shadow Thursday. How about two more years of Atlas Shrugged adaptations?more »